Canaday Steam Plant, Nebraska climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Canaday Steam Plant's normal year runs from 15°F January nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 23.4 inches of precipitation and 20 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.4°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 30°C, 594 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCanaday Steam Plant
- Station IDUSC00251450
- Location40.69°N 99.70°W
- Elevation2,362 ft (720 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Canaday Steam Plant is 62°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 14%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Canaday Steam Plant.
- Jan 38° 15°
- Feb 41° 18°
- Mar 53° 27°
- Apr 62° 37°
- May 72° 48°
- Jun 82° 59°
- Jul 86° 64°
- Aug 84° 62°
- Sep 78° 52°
- Oct 65° 38°
- Nov 51° 26°
- Dec 40° 18°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Canaday Steam Plant each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in June (3.86 in), the least in January (0.43 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38°F | 15°F | 26.6°F | 0.43 | 5.9 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 41°F | 18°F | 29.6°F | 0.51 | 4.9 | 3 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 53°F | 27°F | 39.7°F | 1.18 | 2.3 | 4 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 37°F | 49.2°F | 2.48 | 1.0 | 7 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 72°F | 48°F | 60.0°F | 3.76 | 0.1 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 82°F | 59°F | 70.6°F | 3.86 | 0.0 | 9 | 6 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 86°F | 64°F | 75.2°F | 3.29 | 0.0 | 8 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 84°F | 62°F | 73.0°F | 2.99 | 0.0 | 6 | 7 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 78°F | 52°F | 65.0°F | 1.81 | 0.0 | 5 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 38°F | 51.7°F | 1.74 | 0.6 | 5 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 26°F | 38.9°F | 0.74 | 1.9 | 3 | <1 | 24 | 10 h |
| December | 40°F | 18°F | 28.7°F | 0.60 | 3.3 | 2 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 39°F | 50.7°F | 23.39 | 20.0 | 64 | 29 | 154 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −9°C | −3.0°C | 11 mm | 15 cm |
| February | 5°C | −8°C | −1.3°C | 13 mm | 12 cm |
| March | 11°C | −3°C | 4.3°C | 30 mm | 6 cm |
| April | 17°C | 3°C | 9.6°C | 63 mm | 3 cm |
| May | 22°C | 9°C | 15.6°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 15°C | 21.4°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 24.0°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 22.8°C | 76 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 11°C | 18.3°C | 46 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 3°C | 10.9°C | 44 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 11°C | −3°C | 3.8°C | 19 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 4°C | −8°C | −1.8°C | 15 mm | 8 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00251450; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
Which months are mildest at Canaday Steam Plant?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (5).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00251450.
When is the last frost at Canaday Steam Plant?
In Canaday Steam Plant, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 26 in half of years and after May 7 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 13 in half of years and before September 29 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- April 261 year in 10 after May 7; 9 in 10 after April 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 131 year in 10 before September 29; 9 in 10 before October 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 169 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 188 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 14 in half of springs and before October 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Canaday Steam Plant in zone 5b in ZIP code 68976, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (26 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Nebraska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00251450; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get at Canaday Steam Plant?
In a normal year in Canaday Steam Plant, 29 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 154 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 64 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 29a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 154a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 35high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 64a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 7a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1950) is 114°F, on July 12, 1954; the lowest is −27°F, on December 22, 1983.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1993, with 32.95 in; the snowiest season is 1951–52, with 40.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00251450; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00251450. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Canaday Steam Plant?
Over a year 80% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Canaday Steam Plant, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and February the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.3 |
| February | 73% | 3.1 |
| March | 75% | 4.3 |
| April | 75% | 5.4 |
| May | 76% | 6.1 |
| June | 84% | 7.0 |
| July | 87% | 7.0 |
| August | 85% | 6.0 |
| September | 83% | 4.9 |
| October | 79% | 3.5 |
| November | 79% | 2.6 |
| December | 74% | 2.0 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How many heating and cooling degree days does Canaday Steam Plant record?
A normal year at Canaday Steam Plant brings 6,122 heating degree days, 14% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 942 cooling degree days, 4% more than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,214 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,190 | 0 |
| February | 993 | 0 |
| March | 783 | 0 |
| April | 479 | 5 |
| May | 205 | 50 |
| June | 28 | 198 |
| July | 3 | 321 |
| August | 8 | 256 |
| September | 103 | 104 |
| October | 421 | 9 |
| November | 785 | 0 |
| December | 1,125 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,122 | 942 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00251450. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Have recent years at Canaday Steam Plant been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 51.7°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.7°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2024 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 52.5°F | +1.8°F | 25.82 | – |
| 2025 | 51.7°F | +1.0°F | 24.54 | – |
Over 48 complete years from 1963 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.2°F per century (+0.12°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00251450; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Canaday Steam Plant's climate compare?
Canaday Steam Plant is warmer than 95 of the 137 places with their own NOAA record in Nebraska, and wetter than 37. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.7°F is warmer than 44%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Canaday Steam Plant is Dfa: continental, no dry season, hot summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Canaday Steam Plant share this climate record?
6 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Lexington, NE11,205 people · 6 mi NW
- Elm Creek, NE981 people · 17 mi E
- Bertrand, NE706 people · 12 mi S
- Elwood, NE622 people · 11 mi SW
- Overton, NE594 people · 9 mi E
- Smithfield, NE57 people · 9 mi S
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Canaday Steam Plant's climate
What is the coldest month at Canaday Steam Plant?
January, with a normal high of 38°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow at Canaday Steam Plant?
Yes: 20 inches in a normal year, falling on 9 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (5.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Canaday Steam Plant?
June, with 3.86 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.43 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Canaday Steam Plant in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Canaday Steam Plant in zone 5b in ZIP code 68976, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (26 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come at Canaday Steam Plant?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 26; in one year in ten it comes after May 7. Waiting until May 7 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nebraska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Eustis, NE19 miles from this station, 50.0°F a year
- Holdrege, NE24 miles from this station, 49.9°F a year
- Oxford, NE25 miles from this station, 50.5°F a year
- Gothenburg, NE29 miles from this station, 51.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made